i'm looking for an album similar to enslaved - vikingligr veldii've never heard anything that's even close to it ...

Have you heard Windir? Any album is good from them, but my personal favorite is "1184".

As good as Windir are, they bear little resemblance to Enslaved, let alone Vikingligr Veldi. I'm still undecided about their best album though. It's between Soknardalr and Arntor for me.

As for the rec, I have to agree with the others here in saying that Vikingligr really is a one of kind album. At least to my knowledge. The closest thing I could think of would be maybe early Kampfar or Varg's Wolfszeit, although they're still not that similar.

I'm looking for some folk/viking that is depressing, i really don't like the bands that just sing about drinking mead and having a jolly time.

i like Bathory's "Blood Fire Death" and Moonsorrow's stuff that ive heard on their myspace

cheers in advance

Well, you should also get Bathory's other Viking output. Get Hammerheart, Twilight of the Gods, Blood on Ice and both Nordland's. Also, definitely get all of Moonsorrow's albums. Verisäkeet is easily their best IMO. Absolutely incredible album.

Other bands:

Windir: Melodic Viking/folk, which is incredibly beautiful and emotional. Also can be quite 'depressing' (as you put it) in some songs. Like I said, melodic, but not in a 'bouncy' Fintroll-esque kind of way.

Borknagar: Get their s/t. Aggressive and folky black/Viking metal.

Enslaved: Fantastic, epic black/Viking metal. Vikingligr Veldi and Frost are both quite raw, if you're into that sort of thing. They changed their sound later on to a more progressive black metal sound.

Kampfar: Melodic black/Viking metal. Brilliant, brilliant band. Any of their three albums are great, but my personal favourite (and also one of the best black/Viking albums ever) is Mellom Skogkledde Aaser. Melodic, soaring riffs and extremely emotive vocals.

Sorgsvart: Black/folk metal. One of my favourite bands. His debut, Fortapt Fra Verden I Vakkert Selvmord, is an astonishing release. Ripping black metal fused with very well-crafted folk interludes/elements. His sophomore release, Vikingtid og Anarki, is just as good, if not better. Much better production and just more complex in general, with a much fuller sound.

Storm: Viking/folk side project of Fenriz and Satyr from the mid-90s. Very folk influenced and quite unique. Nordavind is an extremely good release.

And that's about all I can be bothered with right now. Might add some more later.

Ive got a couple of questions. I loved Enslaveds Vikingligr Veldi, and am in the process of checking out Hordanes Land. But I dont like rock music. Are there any other Enslaved albums I should check out? Which album was their last black metal release?

Also, I love Bathorys Blood Fire Death, but think Hammerheart sucks donkey balls. Any other release I should listen to?

i like Bathory's "Blood Fire Death" and Moonsorrow's stuff that ive heard on their myspace

All of Morrigan's albums seem to be inspired by "Blood Fire Death," and contain a mixture of faster, thrash-like metal and slower, epic metal with occasional clean vocals. "Celts" is an especially good album of theirs.

If you're looking for more "sad" Viking and folk metal, there are some more doom metal-style bands that remind me of Bathory's more epic style: Ereb Altor just released their first album, and it's very Bathory-esque. Also Scald, from Russia, who only released one album, is inspired quite a bit by Bathory, though the vocals are in a different style. [Edit: Graveland as well.]

One of the darkest folk metal bands I've heard is Vo Skorbyah. They have one album out so far, and it's awesome. The lyrics are all taken from Russian funeral texts, and the songs are all very slow and melancholy. Highly recommended.

Last edited by samekh on Sun May 18, 2008 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ive got a couple of questions. I loved Enslaveds Vikingligr Veldi, and am in the process of checking out Hordanes Land. But I dont like rock music. Are there any other Enslaved albums I should check out? Which album was their last black metal release?

Check out the Yggdrassil demo. Essential Enslaved release.

And if you like Enslaved, you may like Helheim. Viking black metal.

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So, Manes > Samael?

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yeah, it's ironic, they are so pretentious, yet one can say that at least they don't pretend. They don't release some techno-rap-whatever album and say "on this record we tried to sound like in our old days"

Ive got a couple of questions. I loved Enslaveds Vikingligr Veldi, and am in the process of checking out Hordanes Land. But I dont like rock music. Are there any other Enslaved albums I should check out? Which album was their last black metal release?

Also, I love Bathorys Blood Fire Death, but think Hammerheart sucks donkey balls. Any other release I should listen to?

Enslaved started to incorporate more progressive stuff into their music around the time they released Eld. But really, anything up to Blodhemn is still black metal-y. Frost is quite raw, and more in the vein of Vikingligr Veldi.

As for hating Hammerheart, I can't really help you. Blood Fire Death is really a one off for Bathory. His first two are dirty thrash albums which hint towards black, Under the Sign... is a true black metal record, and Hammerheart and Twilight of the Gods are much in the same vein. You might want to check out his later Viking stuff though, namely Blood on Ice and both Nordland releases. They're not quite as hard to get used to as Hammerheart.

Edit: Second Kruel's rec of Helheim. Furious Viking black metal. The vocals are quite extreme, especially on the first album, but for me that's a plus.

As for newer folk/Viking bands, anyone know of any bands similar to Eluveitie, Turisas, or bands of that sort. Bombastic, epic and still a bit folky as well as metal.

I'm not sure there's another band that sounds close to Eluveitie (except for the Celtic influences, in which case bands like Cruachan, Hordak, Heol Telwen, etc. might fit the bill), but you could probably get a ton of suggestions for bands that sound close to Turisas. Moonsorrow and Ensiferum are probably the most obvious choices.

As for newer folk/Viking bands, anyone know of any bands similar to Eluveitie, Turisas, or bands of that sort. Bombastic, epic and still a bit folky as well as metal.

I'm not sure there's another band that sounds close to Eluveitie (except for the Celtic influences, in which case bands like Cruachan, Hordak, Heol Telwen, etc. might fit the bill), but you could probably get a ton of suggestions for bands that sound close to Turisas. Moonsorrow and Ensiferum are probably the most obvious choices.

Thanks, though I've already heard of the obvious recs for the more famous bands. I would like to know though if more bands incorporate melodeath and folk like Eluveitie though.

As for newer folk/Viking bands, anyone know of any bands similar to Eluveitie, Turisas, or bands of that sort. Bombastic, epic and still a bit folky as well as metal.

I'm not sure there's another band that sounds close to Eluveitie (except for the Celtic influences, in which case bands like Cruachan, Hordak, Heol Telwen, etc. might fit the bill), but you could probably get a ton of suggestions for bands that sound close to Turisas. Moonsorrow and Ensiferum are probably the most obvious choices.

Thanks, though I've already heard of the obvious recs for the more famous bands. I would like to know though if more bands incorporate melodeath and folk like Eluveitie though.

You'd really like Svartsot...well I think. They are death/folk. Not really melodeath, but it's still got some melody and really low growls.

Boss, you may like Falchion. They're better than their reviews say, believe me. You could also try Elivagar from Germany. Their latest full-length could use alot of work, but it's certainly interesting..

Boss, you may like Falchion. They're better than their reviews say, believe me. You could also try Elivagar from Germany. Their latest full-length could use alot of work, but it's certainly interesting..

Lol, I was one of the ones who gave them a negative review on a demo. Their full lengths are decent though.

One of the darkest folk metal bands I've heard is Vo Skorbyah. They have one album out so far, and it's awesome. The lyrics are all taken from Russian funeral texts, and the songs are all very slow and melancholy. Highly recommended.

Vo Skorbyah are great, but I consider them to be funeral doom with folk influence. Although they might appeal to folk metal fans as well.

Another folk/doom band I haven't seen mentioned here is Mael Mórdha from Ireland, also very recommended.

Speaking of skuforger, they don't have any happy songs, they're either agressive or doomy, with little to no exceptions. Might try also Grindmaster Dead - the pre-Skyforger, when they played death/doom with some folk influences. That is, if you are lucky enough to find it anywhere for download.

Darkestrah: Excellent folk/black from Kyrgyzstan that is quite atmospheric. They have released three albums, of which my personal favourite is Epos. I believe they have another album coming out soon.

Wyrd: Finnish band that employs quite a lot of folk elements with fairly raw black metal, especially on their early albums. Heathen and Huldrafolk are my favourite albums from them and are both excellent releases.

Altorių Šešėliai (also known as Altar Shadows): Lithuanian band which plays mainly slow-tempo ambient/atmospheric black metal but also incorporates a number of folk elements and uses a number of traditional folk instruments. His album 'Margi Sakalai' (Speckeldy Falcons) is fantastic.